As one of four principal officers in the Collector General's Limerick offices, Brendan Murphy was manager of the State's entire VAT repayment system.
He was a career civil servant, by any standards a successful one. His job carried a lot of responsibility, but it also appeared to offer an opportunity to enrich himself well beyond his annual salary of about £47,000.
In January or February 1997 - according to a statement made after his arrest - Murphy met a man named Brendan O'Doherty at a house in north Dublin and had what he said was a "general" discussion about the tax system. They met again soon afterwards in Murphy's home town of Trim, Co Meath. In February there was a third meeting, attended by Murphy, O'Doherty and several others.
O'Doherty, who was subsequently jailed for his part in the planned fraud but died last year while in prison, appears to have represented criminal interests. In his statement Murphy said O'Doherty and his associates "pushed" him for details on how the VAT repayment system worked, and then threatened him and his family if he did not co-operate in a planned fraud. In the subsequent court hearings, however, the Criminal Assets Bureau rejected Murphy's claims that he acted under duress. Det Insp Patrick Byrne, who described the attempted fraud as the largest of its kind in the State, said in evidence that if any threats had been made, they had been made by Murphy.
The plot was exposed in June 1997, when an assistant principal officer in Limerick double-checked a suspicious VAT return form. Gardai were called in and, on June 18th, O'Doherty was arrested in Ennis where he was to collect a £3,823,716 cheque already issued by the Revenue Commissioners on foot of the forged return.
The following day Murphy was arrested at his office in Sarsfield House, Limerick, and cried when brought to Henry Street Garda station. Det Insp Byrne told Ennis Circuit Court Murphy would have collected £2 million for his part in the conspiracy.
Murphy initially pleaded guilty, but earlier this year attempted to change his plea. At a hearing in April the court was told he had not had his full mental faculties during the first court appearances, due to a dependence on tranquilisers he had been taking since the late 1980s.
Medical reports submitted in support of change of plea said Murphy had been treated for thyroid cancer in 1978 and again in 1997. He had also suffered from depression, voluntarily admitting himself to hospital in 1985. A psychiatric report described him as a chronically compulsive, restless individual. He had practised martial arts, learned to fly planes and helicopters, and had been simultaneously involved in five or six litigation cases. He always seemed to be surrounded by problems. The report added that since his arrest he had been ostracised by his wife and family and lived "in the garage".
But in Limerick Circuit Court in April, Judge Kevin Haugh ruled against the plea change, saying he was satisfied the original plea had been made with his free choice and will. Murphy held a very senior job and there was no evidence that he had been unable to function efficiently because of the drug dependence claimed.